Movie Review - Pitch Black (2000)

Updated on October 16, 2009

As the Planets Turn

On a world of perpetual light, death comes on the wings of darkness. That seems to be the premise for the movie Pitch Black with Vin Diesel. The survivors of a crash try to find a way to survive on a hostile world where they have to rely on a convicted murderer to lead them to safety when the rare night falls on the world. The days are twenty two years long with short nights that last only a few months. But in this darkness creatures rise from their long sleep to feast on whatever life there is on the surface.

Very creepy, scarey aliens.

The buffett plus the survivor.

The only light via grubs

Hardcore science fiction with a dash of horror thrown in. I am not really a fan of horror movies and there are sections of this movie where I have to turn away from. Surprisingly it was the creatures themselves. There was something about them that that sent shivers down my spine nearly every time I saw them. Well designed I must say.

The ensemble cast was an interesting choice. You have the murdering animal and his keeper. The pilot who becomes captain. The Holy man and his random canon fodder followers. The girl with a tool belt who can fix anything. The cultured snob who is basically useless and a boy who is actually a girl.

One by one they are picked off once they enter the darkness. When the creatures aren't hunting them, they are killing each other. Which begs the questions; do they hibernate for 22 years? How do they survive in the darkness? What do they eat? The only other life form seems to be those glowing grubs and since they are hypersensitive to light they wouldn't be making much of a meal out of those little guys.

Ominous sunset

This dosn't look good.

The movie has its good points and bad points, being that the script could have been better. More of the back story on the some of the characters would have been nice since the focus is more was them than it was the creatures or the planet for that matter. So they all come off a little two dimensional and little more than appetizers for the planet.

Do I recommend the movie? Yes, I think so. It could have been better but it has a lot of potential and some really nice moments worth watching.